Coping with coopetition—Facing dilemmas in cooperation for sustainable development: The case of the Dutch smart grid industry

This paper is amongst the first to examine coopetition strategy for sustainable development at the network level. Companies who want to successfully implement complex innovative technologies that support sustainable development need to collaborate with other actors of the innovation ecosystem, including their competitors, so that they can develop standards, interoperable products, pool knowledge, and resources and bundle forces to compete against other technologies. Collaboration with competitors brings benefits, but also many risks. We investigated how firms cope with these risks when establishing an innovation ecosystem to implement a new technology in society. We conducted research in the Dutch smart grids sector and explored how these firms minimize inherent risks of coopetition. We found that system‐building actors in the Dutch smart grid field not only minimize inherent risks, but from the start of their collaboration they implement so‐called enablers to prevent these risks upfront.     

Do Boards of Directors Influence Corporate Sustainable Development? An Attention‐Based Analysis

Following the attention‐based view of the firm (ABV), boards of directors’ link to corporate sustainable development (CSD) could be dependent upon certain attention structures: valuation of environmental stimuli, rules of the game and the players. Studying a sample of large Australian firms, the findings indicate that the proposed attention‐directing structures do appear to be linked to CSD in a manner consistent with the ABV. Specifically, creating awareness through scanning efforts links boards to CSD. Stakeholder debate, as a boardroom rule, is also significantly associated with CSD. Furthermore, as a so‐called ‘player’ on the board, women directors have a moderating effect on the relationships between environmental scanning, stakeholder debate and CSD. The findings are discussed along with limitations and directions for future research. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW FOR GREEN PRODUCT TERM: FROM DEFINITION TO EVALUATION

Nowadays, interest in corporate environmental strategies shifts from cleaner processes to the holistic nature of green products. The relevant literature argues that firms have the opportunity to pioneer through green product innovation, allowing them to differentiate and thus gain competitive advantage. Environmental burden of products during their entire life cycle is undeniable. Due to the weakness of the existing literature that inadequately addresses a commonly accepted green product definition, as well as the thereby caused inconclusive academic empirical results on firms' competitiveness, there are many cases of businesses greenwashing behavior. The overall contribution of this exploratory paper, on determining and evaluating the degree of greenness of a product, is twofold; first, starting with a systematic literature review, authors further contribute by proposing an integrative definition that addresses the so far existing terminological gap. Next, after reviewing the existing environmental assessment tools, authors based on the developed definition and in accordance to its dynamic dimension contribute to the existing methodology, as the paper reveals issues that need to be considered in the evaluation of green products.     

Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports

Companies commonly issue sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. This study seeks to understand worldviews of corporate sustainability, or the corporate message conveyed regarding what sustainability or CSR is and how to enact it. Content analysis of corporate sustainability reports is used to position each company report within stages of corporate sustainability. Results reveal that there are multiple coexisting worldviews of corporate sustainability, but the most dominant worldview is focused on the business case for sustainability, a position anchored in the weak sustainability paradigm. We contend that the business case and weak sustainability advanced in corporate sustainability reports and by the Global Reporting Initiative are poor representations of sustainability. Ecological embeddedness, or a locally responsive strategy that is sensitive to local ecosystems, may hold the key to improved ecological sensemaking, which in turn could lead to more mature levels of corporate sustainability worldviews that support strong sustainability and are rooted in environmental science. This must be supported by government regulation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

The sustainability behaviour of small firms in tourism: the role of self-efficacy and contextual constraints

This article presents a grounded theory to explain why some small businesses in tourism adopt sustainable business practices while others do not, even when they share environmental and wider sustainability concerns. It does so based on research undertaken among business owners in Crete. The paper starts by considering studies on sustainability awareness, knowledge and the mechanisms for accepting responsibility. Secondly, it summarises the influence of task difficulty and effort on sustainability self-efficacy. Thirdly, it focuses on social comparisons and vicarious experiences, as a way of learning what is important. Finally, it examines powerlessness due to perceived situational constraints. In so doing, the study finds that self-efficacy helps to explain sustainable attitude formation and the attitude-behaviour gap; it partly shifts the locus of responsibility for an inability to act sustainably away from the individual and towards their context. The paper contributes to the theoretical literature on small businesses and sustainability, and leads to new avenues for policy interventions.     

Sustainable dressing: Consumers' value perceptions towards slow fashion

Slow fashion that improves with an increasing awareness of sustainability has changed consumers' value perception and purchasing behaviours. The aim of this study is to determine slow fashion dimensions that influence consumers' value perceptions for slow fashion products and to reveal the effects of the perceived value on consumers' intentions to purchase and willingness to pay higher prices. The sample includes 725 students pursuing higher education in Turkey and Kazakhstan. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to specify the factor structure of the variables used in the research, and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. Data analysis showed that authenticity, locality, and exclusivity aspects in Turkey and equity, functionality, locality, and exclusivity aspects in Kazakhstan contributed to perceived customer value. Perceived customer value in both groups positively affects the intention to purchase and the willingness to pay higher prices. In addition, consumers who intend to purchase slow fashion clothing are willing to pay higher prices than other products. The results suggest that consumers in different countries have different orientations that influence their perceptions of value. From this perspective, this study can provide designers with insights on the importance of making sustainable designs that are appropriate to the target market beyond the trends imposed by the global fashion industry.     

基于循环经济的绍兴休闲观光农业发展研究

［目的］休闲观光农业建设是绍兴市产业转型升级的关键一步，探寻休闲观光农业新模式，能够为休闲农业发展提供理论参考。［方法］文章采用变异系数法确定指标权重，多因素综合分析法测算观光农业发展水平，从循环经济角度出发，评价2001—2016年绍兴市休闲观光农业发展可持续性，提出发展中存在的问题并探索循环型的休闲观光农业新模式。［结果］（1）2001—2016年以来，经济发展可持续性得分较高，资源环境可持续得分次之，循环经济可持续发展偏低。（2）现阶段绍兴市休闲观光农业发展主要存在休闲观光农业自然环境不断遭到破坏，休闲观光农业缺乏整体规划，休闲观光农业旅游支撑体系不够健全等问题。（3）未来发展中，循环经济发展下的休闲观光农业可以开发建设时空复合循环型、资源综合利用循环型、能量多级利用循环型、综合开发利用循环型等4种模式。［结论］未来绍兴市应将循环经济的理念融入到休闲观光农业中，因地制宜，科学选择循环型休闲观光农业发展模式； 规划先行，科学利用农业旅游资源； 强化保障，建立休闲观光农业支撑体系，全面推动休闲观光农业健康持续发展。     

Beyond the agroecological and sustainable agricultural intensification debate: Is blended sustainability the way forward?

With the sustainable development goals has come a renewed global interest in ending hunger and achieving food security, while preventing natural resource degradation. Despite this renewed interest and increased commitments to invest in agricultural development, there is an outstanding debate over the technological trajectories to sustainability. The debate centres on sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) and agroecological intensification (AEI) pathways to agricultural sustainability. Using a systematic literature review approach, this study examines the debate over AEI and SAI. This study employs a theoretical framework based on the economic, social, and ecological dimensions of sustainable agriculture within a policy and institutional space. Based on the sustainability dimensions, a discourse analytical technique is applied to unravel the debate. The results reveal differences in actor composition in the SAI and AEI pathways. Both pathways aim to promote food security with optimal and sustainable use of inputs; however, the actors differ on discourse relating to the concept of farming, the role of genetic engineering, the scale of operation, land use and soil health. Resolving these differences requires a blended sustainability approach that moves beyond the current AEI and SAI debate by acknowledging the tradeoffs and synergies of the socio-economic and ecological dimensions.     

Local opinions on trophy hunting in Kyrgyzstan

As traditional international trophy hunting destinations are becoming less accessible due to hunting restrictions and regulations, new destinations are entering the scene, such as the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, located in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan has grown to be one of the top destinations for international trophy hunting of argali Ovis ammon and ibex Capra sibirica, both of which are in danger of extinction. Empirically, the article draws on a case study from the largest region in Kyrgyzstan, At-Bashy, and 395 questionnaires with local inhabitants from 5 villages, and 1 interview with an international trophy hunting tour operator. In this article, the impacts of trophy hunting as a tourism practice in a rural context is discussed in terms of its sustainability and through the opinions of the local inhabitants. In sum, the negative impacts of trophy hunting in At-Bashy seem to overrule the positive ones, and in its current form it is not sustainable. The local inhabitants report about a decrease in argali and ibex during the last years; they receive basically no economic benefits from hunting tourism; and not surprisingly, 70% of the population rejects the further development of the industry in its current shape.